In the prior art, hospitals, clinics and doctors, etc., have routinely taken various samples or specimens of a patient's blood, urine or stool and the like, to be sent for testing and analysis by an outside remote laboratory. Such specimens must be transported and delivered promptly to such laboratories by means which will not cause damage or spillage thereto. Present widely employed delivery packages may include a glass test tube or plastic vials as containers for such specimen collection. Once closed, the container is deposited in a small cardboard cylindrical packaging/delivery tube, usually no larger than 1/2 inch to 2 inches in diameter and no longer than 6 inches. Generally, the inserted container is loosely surrounded by various types of packaging materials, such as newspaper, foam rubber, etc., for the purpose of inhibiting the container's movement within the cardboard tube. The cardboard tube may have metal end pieces or metal screw-on caps to retain the container within the packaging tube.
Such a package ready for transport and delivery is rather weighty and bulky, and costly for shipment via the regular first-class U.S. mail service system, and, therefore, is undesirable for mass or individual mailings as may be required in connection with extensive mailings associated with various drug testing programs which have impact on a significant percentage of the nation's current population.
Recently, the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that transportation operators, such as railroads, airlines, buses and the like may require testing for drug abuse of its employees. In addition, many employers have instituted private programs for testing their employees. Further, many parents have expressed concern about the widespread use by school age children and many have expressed a desire for individual means whereby they could test and monitor whether their children are involved in any drug abuse activities.
It is difficult to predict how extensive the need or desire for such drug testing will grow. However, one thing is certain: drug abuse has reached into almost every area of business and society of this nation. Thus, private industry, governmental agencies and private individuals alike, have serious concerns and will seek the assistance of various testing and evaluation laboratories to analyze samples and specimens for drug abuse on an ever expanding basis.
As a consequence of the anticipated escalation in the volume of packages which may be required or desirable to be sent through the mail service system, it has therefore become paramount to provide a lightweight and inexpensive transport and delivery package adapted and acceptable for use in mailing body fluid specimens to remote laboratories for drug testing and analysis, which is cost effective.
The prior art packaging and process shipping and delivery via the current mail service system have several undesirable features either singularly or in combination; namely, that there are no mechanical or structural means immediately surrounding the specimen carrying container to insure that the plug or cap of said vial will not become unplugged; nor is there provided specific means for absorption of fluid specimen in the unlikely event of the leakage or rupture of the container; nor is there provided further shock absorption means to minimize, if not eliminate, damage to the specimen carrying container in transit; and last and more importantly, the complete shipping and delivery package of the prior art is not an economical and cost effective means in view of the significantly high cost of shipping, both domestically and overseas, via the current first-class mail service system, which is used for prompt delivery of such test specimens.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,840 addresses this problem; however, since the issuance of this patent, improvements have been made over the kit and method disclosed in this patent.